Find out how popular the last name Beer is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Beer.

Beer, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Beer surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Beer in America

Beer is the 5829th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Beer surname appeared 5,931 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Beer.

We can also compare 2010 data for Beer to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Beer

The surname Beer originates from Germany, where it first appeared in the early 13th century. It is derived from the Middle High German word "bier," meaning "beer," suggesting that the name was likely an occupational surname given to a brewer or tavern keeper.

In the Bairisch dialects of Bavaria and Austria, the name was often spelled as "Pier" or "Byr." The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval German records, such as the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," which mentions a "Conradus Bier" in 1288.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was Johann Beer, a German brewer and landowner who lived in the city of Nuremberg in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Michael Beer, a German mathematician and astronomer born in 1800, who made significant contributions to the field of optics and celestial mechanics.

The Beer surname also has a long history in England, where it is believed to have been introduced by German immigrants in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances in England is that of John Beer, a merchant from Bristol who is mentioned in the city's records in 1567.

In the United States, the Beer surname can be traced back to the colonial era, with the earliest known bearer being Hans Beer, a German immigrant who settled in Pennsylvania in the late 17th century. Another prominent American with the surname was George Lewis Beer, a historian and educator born in 1872, who served as a professor at Columbia University and wrote extensively on British colonial history.

Other notable individuals with the surname Beer include Max Beer, a German socialist and writer born in 1864, and Rachel Beer, an English novelist and biographer born in 1858, known for her works on the lives of famous authors and intellectuals.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Beer

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Beer.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Beer was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Beer has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Beer was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Beer, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!